What Giuliani Should Do Once He Drops Out of the Race

1. His Deadly Judgment: Before 9/11, Giuliani is the person responsible for deciding to locate NYC's emergency command center in the World Trade Center complex along with a diesel fuel tank (against the advice of FDNY officials). The World Trade Center was a known al Qaeda target (the towers were struck in 1993 and al Qaeda publicly promised to return to finish the job). Why would anyone locate an emergency command center in such a dangerous, vulnerable place?

During the 9/11 attacks, because New York City's emergency command center was utterly paralyzed (since it was located in the World Trade Center that was being attacked), the city was unable to properly coordinate emergency response workers like the police and firemen. That inability to coordinate cost many uniformed and civilian lives.

Anyone who wants to witness the results of NYC's abysmal emergency response to the attacks need only listen to the previously-released 911 tapes that reveal the total lack of coordination and life-saving information that plagued the city that day.

Frankly speaking, the reason Giuliani was on television all day on 9/11 and able to conduct so many on-the-street interviews was because he was scrambling to set up a temporary command post.

2. His Poor Leadership: Part of being a great leader is making sure your followers (be it troops, staff members, or citizens) are properly equipped. One of the biggest grievances people have with President Bush is that he sent our troops into Iraq without the proper equipment and support. It is bad enough to lie about entering a war, even worse to set up your troops for certain failure by not planning properly.

Giuliani should know something about this concept, because he was responsible for allowing the FDNY to use inoperable Motorola radios for years before 9/11. On the day of 9/11, firemen were killed because their radios simply did not work. Men who had stormed the towers to rescue civilians were unable to hear the order to evacuate the towers prior to their collapse. Giuliani knew their radios didn't work. He knew that the FDNY needed working radios. Yet, he did not provide them with those radios--and people died as a result.

3. His Failure to Support the Creation of the 9/11 Commission: As a family member who fought for the creation of the 9/11 Commission, I can tell you first hand that Mayor Giuliani told the 9/11 family members that it was none of our business to investigate the 9/11 attacks or our government. Instead, he told us to let the government investigate itself. Hmmm. I always find it interesting that the man who utters 9/11 in nearly every other sentence was completely opposed to finding out everything about 9/11 so that people could be held accountable and we could save lives in future terrorist attacks. But, then again when we examine Giuiliani's own responsibility for the lives that were needlessly lost on 9/11, I guess his opposition to the 9/11 Commission should not come as a surprise.

4. Bernard Kerik: enough said.

5. His Failure to Ensure that 9/11 Rescue Workers Receive Proper Medical Care, Treatment, and Benefits: The men and women who volunteered at Ground Zero on the day of 9/11 and in the months and years thereafter are still desperately sick and in need of health benefits. Yet, to date, most of these people have been ignored and forgotten.

Rudy Giuliani, like many others, knew that the air quality in lower Manhattan after the attacks was bad. Giuliani, like many others, knew that all of the rescue workers were placing their long-term health at great risk. Yet Giuliani did nothing about it then, and he has done nothing about it since.

So what should Giuliani do once he drops out of the presidential race?

If he really wants to be a 9/11 hero, then Rudy should devote his time, money, and name to getting every single 9/11 rescue worker the proper health care benefits and support they deserve.